Better Than Me
by Lily-Potter-Evans
Summary: She left the wizarding world thinking she'd be OK. Now, it's coming back to haunt her. Will she make it...or lose everything?  AN:it's a LilyJames of course...my fave ship! Inspired by Hinder's Better Than Me so all credit to the song goes to them!


It was raining.

This was just peachy!

The first time she runs late to open up the shop and it decides to rain. Oh, well! She hadn't gone to Hogwarts to just play, had she? She cast a shield charm around her as she walked, though kept up an umbrella in order to keep the Muggles from suspecting something was seriously wrong. As she walked briskly past all the small shops, she began to reminisce about her days at Hogwarts. She missed the times she'd shared with Kelly and Amanda around the grounds without a worry in the world.

Now, it was all just so hard. She'd barely spoken to them since they'd graduated. Kelly was off studying different types of plants used in antidotes for poisons. This trip was brought on by her training to become a fully certified Healer; thus, making communication really tough as she moved constantly. Amanda, on the other hand, was off being courageous in her field as an Auror. For obvious reasons, communication was very strained, with Lily getting just one letter every three months, until they had eventually ceased.

Lily, however, was not _too_ worried. If something had happened to either of them, she would have been notified immediately either by the Ministry or their respective families. As worried as she'd get sometimes, she knew they were big girls and could handle the pressure. If they needed her, she'd be there in a heartbeat.

As for Lily, she had rented a flat in London. This was due to the fact that she'd opened up a coffee shop, near the train station she'd always seen for seven years: King's Cross. She was doing really well, yet she missed the magical world dearly. The reason she'd deviated from it was because no career at the moment had appealed to her. She'd thought about being an Auror, but at the moment she felt she was too young to put her life on the line on a daily basis. She'd then thought about being a healer like Kelly, but the traveling that was part of the training wasn't really appealing to her either. She was deathly afraid of planes and boats, so that struck her out for completion of her Healer training.

Walking past the empty space one day after visiting Diagon Alley, the thought of the coffee shop struck her and she decided to give it a try. The first couple of weeks were a bit rough, seeing as how no one really knew the little shop existed. After those few weeks, however, she'd developed a constant clientele which were extremely pleased with the homey feel the shop offered. Nothing could have burst her happy bubble as she walked to work that rainy day.

Or so she thought.

* * *

"Ugh! Where's the bloody key?" Lily exclaimed to no one in particular. After a thorough search of her purse, she finally found the key buried deeply inside her bag. She locked the door behind her as she began to walk towards the back room to get everything ready for the day ahead. She put her bag down on a small side table and sat down on the comfortable chair that she'd bought at an antique shop a couple of weeks ago. Working on her paperwork took her far less time than she'd expected. She took this time to start sorting through all the ingredients she would need for the day and made sure everything was in pristine condition before letting anyone enter the shop. 

Even after all of that was done, she was left with a half-hour in which to think about nothing in particular. Her thoughts, once again, strayed to those happy times in Hogwarts with her friends. All the laughter they'd shared, all the secrets they'd spilled to each other. Sitting there, in the middle of her coffee shop, she hoped she'd get another chance at that. Laughter, nowadays, felt fake for her. Sure, she'd laughed with her customers as they shared jokes or funny stories about their children and their antics. True laughter, as the one she'd shared with her friends was pretty much nonexistent.

For Lily, every day was the same. She'd get up, walk to work, open up shop and spend the whole day there serving whoever walked through the door with a cheerful smile that seemed to make their day a whole lot brighter. Except her. After working for Merlin knows how long, she'd finally close the shop, walk back to her flat, eat a healthy snack and passed out on her bed.

Nearing opening time, she flicked her wand to start heating up the water that she used to make her coffee. She then walked over to the door to unlock it and put up all the blinds around the shop to allow in a comfortable level of sunlight. She turned to walk to the counter when she heard the jingle of the door opening.

"Good morning, Mr. Wood. How are you this fine morning?" Lily greeted on of her regulars.

"Hey there, Lily. I'm doing just great. All I need now is a cup of that wonderful coffee of yours and I'll be perfect!"

"Coming right up," was Lily's reply. As she bustled about trying to make Mr. Wood's coffee, she failed to notice a familiar face enter her shop. He'd entered with another person, which wouldn't be recognized by Lily much later.

Lily finally managed to get Mr. Wood's coffee just perfect and he walked away telling her how great she was having this shop open. He also added that he'd probably have died from exhaustion by the end of the day if it wasn't for her wonderful coffee. All Lily could do was blush at the compliment as he waved goodbye and walk out of the shop.

She then started making the orders of all her other regulars while keeping up with the multiple conversations they were having. After running around for nearly half an hour getting everything finished, she finally took notice in the pair that had sat in her shop without ordering anything. Intrigue filled her insides as she walked over to see if they needed help with anything.

Shock finally ended up filling her insides as she took notice of who exactly was sitting in her shop.

A face she thought she'd never see again.

The face of one James Potter.

* * *

**A/N: hello! ehehe my first time posting on this website...i hope everything goes good. i recently started doing the whole fanfiction thing so bear with me if i suck...if i do just tell me what you would like me to do and i'll change...**

**this story came about by listening to Hinder's "Better than Me"...so that may give you a clue as to where I'm going...but nonetheless I'm going to eventually follow canon...there...that's enough clues...enjoy my story!**

**-LPE**

**PS: please review...that way i know if i'm doing ok or not...thank you!**

**PSS: this is all JKR's!! i'm just borrowing her characters to make stories...but it's all her world...her peoplez...heck if she wants my stories she can have them...i'll be honored if she does...**


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